The present invention relates to an occupant protection device for a vehicle, and to a method for protecting an occupant of a vehicle.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
An occupant protection device normally includes an airbag which is integrated in the steering wheel and is activated in the event of a crash to support the driver when shifting forwards. The airbag may be part of an airbag module which is arranged in the hub region of the steering wheel. When deployed, the airbag can have asymmetric configuration to conform to a body shape of the driver. For example, the airbag can have a head portion for head impact and a thorax portion for thorax impact. Such an airbag is only effective in terms of providing an adequate support function in the event of a crash, when the airbag portions coincide with the position of the corresponding body regions of the driver. This is the case only when the steering wheel is positioned for straight-ahead travel of the vehicle.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved occupant protection device which obviates prior art shortcomings and is simple in structure while still providing a proper alignment of an airbag, regardless of an actual position of the steering wheel to set a steering angle for vehicle wheels.